Rottentown
by Tex Hazard
Summary: When Pixel remodels the Zap it gun, Robbie manages to get his hands on it and zaps Sportacus away. Sportacus soon finds himself 10 years in the future, with Lazytown now being controlled by King Robbie.
1. A Typical Day in Lazytown

The sun was just coming up in Lazytown, it's light reflecting off of the giant blue airship floating nearby.

"Ahh, a brand new day!" said a refreshed Sportacus as he leaped up, and did a triple backflip off of the edge of his bed.

"Time for my morning workout!"

He thrust both hands up past his face, to his right and then left before bounding towards the center of his airship. After doing some one armed pushups and jumping jacks, he front flipped all the way to the kitchen.

"Time for breakfast!"

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, down below in the house with the giant satellite on top, Pixel's alarm clock was buzzing away in his ear.

"It's time to wake up." thought Pixel to himself as he groggily pulled himself from bed, and turned off the alarm. He wasn't up late playing video games this time. This time it was something much more important.

"System overload!" he said as he shook his head. "There's no more time for sleeping today, I've got work to do." He rushed to his computer, without even having breakfast.

"Sportacus would tell me to have a healthy breakfast, and I really should, but there's time for that later. When I'm this close to perfecting an invention, I can't let anything slow me down."

He clicked away on the keyboard, and a screen came up, showing a spinning 3d model of the Zap-it machine. A computerized voice came through the speakers "Zap-it: Version 2 analysis complete. Ready for test run."

"Pixellacious, it's ready!" shouted Pixel in excitement.

He reached for the Zap-it machine that was plugged into his computer, and picked it up.

"This thing sure caused some troubles last time, when that Robbie Rotten got his hands on it. I'm going to have to be VERY careful not to let anyone know about it this time." Pixel told himself as he looked the machine over. "Now, with this perfected version I'll be able to actually vanish my garbage from existence instead of just turning it invisible."

"Hey maybe I can use it to vanish Robbie Rotten away for good." he joked.

As he unplugged the machine, he looked out the window and noticed the other kids coming over. He could see that they were all there. Stingy, Trixie, Ziggy, and Stephanie. Pixel almost dropped the Zap-it machine when he saw Stephanie.

"Come on Pixel, get ahold of yourself. It's Stephanie, you see her everyday! Why do you always get like this?"

The doorbell rang a few seconds later, almost giving Pixel a heart attack.

"Oh no, gotta hide this thing! If they see it, I'll just hear about how I shouldn't be making another one. They just don't get it, they aren't inventors like me."

- - - - - - - - -

Outside, the kids were starting to grow impatient.

"Where IS he?" asked Stephanie, tapping her foot against the ground.

"You know Pixel, he was probably playing video games again!" grumbled Trixie angrily.

Ziggy looked worried. "What if.. what if he's eating CANDY without us?"

"Ziggy, no one eats candy in the morning except for you, and maybe Robbie." Stephanie laughed, then suddenly she got an idea.

"Hey, I know! On the count of three lets all yell and wake him up! One... Two... Three!"

Pixel finally got to the door and opened it just in time to get four kids screaming in his ear.

"PIXEL WAKE UP!"

Pixel collapsed to the ground, holding his ears in agony.

"That could have gone better." Stingy pointed out.

"Oh Pixel, are you alright?" asked Stephanie, as she held a hand out to help him up. Pixel just stared at her with his mouth gaping.

"Pixel?" she asked again.

"So pretty..." Pixel thought to himself, reaching for her hand.

"So what took you so long, hm?" Stingy inquired.

"Oh I was just um.. making breakfast." lied Pixel.

"Oh great, I'm starved!" said Trixie as she pushed her way in, followed by Stingy and Ziggy.

Pixel realized he hadn't let go of Stephanie's hand yet, and quickly did.

Stephanie smiled.

"Pixel are you alright? You seem a little funny today."

"Oh, I'm fine, all systems go!" said Pixel nervously. "Let's go eat."

"I don't see any breakfast in here!" stated Trixie suspiciously when she had surveyed the kitchen.

"Yep, nothing." Stingy added, as he closed the stove he was inspecting.

"Pixel, Pixel, someone must have taken your breakfast!" exclaimed a worried Ziggy, running to Pixel as he and Stephanie entered the kitchen.

"Uhhh." mumbled Pixel, who couldn't think of an excuse.

"I'll look upstairs!" shouted Ziggy as he rushed up the stairs, excited to help.

"Ahh, Ziggy no!" yelled Pixel, running after him. The others kids quickly followed.

Pixel caught up with Ziggy just as he entered the bedroom, grabbing him by the arm to stop him.

"Ziggy, who would steal my breakfast and then put it in my room!" Pixel asked, a bit louder and angrier than he had planned. Ziggy looked a little upset.

"Well you never know, plus you might have been hiding some candy up here!" he said accusingly.

Pixel slowly moved towards the bedsheet that was covering the Zap-it machine, so as to prevent any of the kids from discovering it.

As Stingy entered, he instantly noticed what Pixel was doing, but before he could do or say anything, he was interrupted by Stephanie.

"Well are we going to go play that game of soccer or what, guys?" she asked as she entered the room.

"Yea! I want to be the goalie!" Ziggy shouted, bouncing excitedly, and hurried downstairs. Pixel breathed a sigh of relief and followed, unaware that Stingy was still eyeing the bed sheet.

Stingy made a mental note to find out what was under that sheet as soon as the soccer game was over. He just had to know what Pixel was hiding under there!

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, up in his airship, Sportacus looked over Lazytown with his telescope. He saw Mayor Meanswell helping Bessy carry some groceries, only he was doing more dropping that he was carrying. Sportacus shook his head with a grin, and moved on to find the kids starting up a game of soccer.

"Great to see the kids out having fun and being active!" Sportacus scanned some more, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well, looks like another trouble free day in Lazytown." Sportacus smiled, but in the back of his mind, he was a little concerned what Robbie Rotten was up to. He hadn't shown his face for a nearly a week now, and that was very unlike him. Something wasn't right..

- - - - - - - - -

A great moan sounded from behind the giant sign on the outskirts of Lazytown, forcing a flock of birds to scatter at such a horrific sound.

"Why me?" a distraught Robbie asked from his underground lair. "Why did I get sick? I can't be sick. I've got things to do, fun to ruin, Sporta-creeps to get rid of!"

He sluggishly got up from his orange furry chair, and headed to his cake machine.

"Maybe some cake will help."

After activating the machine, he opened it up and pulled out a giant slice of blue cake, covered in icing.

"Mmm mmm! Some cake everyday keeps the doctor away." said Robbie as he licked his lips.

Just as he was about to take a bite, he could feel his nose start to tingle. Suddenly before he could do anything, he sneezed, thrusting the cake right into his face. He shook in frustration and wiped the cake from his eyes.

"Why couldn't Sporta-chimp get sick instead?" he muttered and stomped over to his periscope.

"Maybe things will be lazy today, that would cheer me up."

He peered into the periscope and saw the children playing soccer.

"Ohhh, this has got to be the worst day ever. Everyone's being active, I'm sick, and I've had no lazy ideas this whole week! I've lost my touch." moaned Robbie as he slumped back in his chair.

- - - - - - - - -

Back in town, the kids had just finished up their game.

"Wow, that was a great game you guys!" said Stephanie as she caught her breath.

"It would have been even better if I won." whined Stingy, pointing to himself.

"Stingy, it doesn't matter who wins, as long as we all had fun playing the game." Stephanie laughed, handing him the ball. Stingy cradled the ball like it was the most valuable thing on earth.

"Pixel can we play video games at your house? Huh? Can we, can we?" Ziggy excitedly asked, hopping in a circle around Pixel. The soccer game hadn't seemed to tire him out at all.

"Sure, why not?" Pixel agreed, forgetting about the Zap-it machine. He was in much too great of a mood to be worried about it, since he and Stephanie had won the soccer game. He thought they made a great team.

- - - - - - - - -

As the kids arrived at Pixel's house, they all grabbed some water, and headed up to Pixel's room.

"I want to play the soccer video game!" Ziggy was the first to say.

"Soccer? Ziggy we just played soccer." Trixie pointed out to him.

"I know but soccer's my most favorite sport ever!" he said, plopping himself on the couch.

"Alright we'll play soccer, that's cool." Pixel agreed, and turned on the television.

"Stingy, what do you think? Is soccer alright with you?" Stephanie asked.

"Hmm? Oh, i'll just watch, you guys go ahead." a distracted Stingy replied. He was determined to figure out what was under that sheet.

"Ziggy, you and Pixel be a team this time!" Trixie ordered, taking charge as usual.

"What? But.." protested Pixel, hoping to be with Stephanie again.

"Pixel, you and Stephanie won last time, plus us girls should stick together!" Trixie said, giving a high five to Stephanie.

Pixel's mood dropped slightly, but was determined to win and impress Stephanie. Stingy waited until the game started, and when everyone was busy, he slowly crept over to the sheet.

"HEY!" shouted Pixel.

Stingy ducked down quickly.

"That's no fair, my guy dropped the ball" Pixel complained, referring to the game.

Stingy was relieved, and slowly peeked under the sheet. That's when he saw it. It was another Zap-it machine, but it was much shinier and looked way more valuable than the old one. Stingy wanted it. He wanted it more than anything he had ever wanted before.

"This should be mine, it will be safer with me. If Pixel has it, who knows what bad things would happen. Yep, this would be much happier with me."

Stingy quietly picked up the device, covered it with the sheet, and made his way to the door.

"I'm uh.. just going to the bathroom." Stingy lied.

"Oh okay, it's at the end of the hallway." Pixel told him, distracted by the video game.

- - - - - - - - -

Stingy made his way down the stairs stroking the machine.

"It's okay machine, I'll give you a nice home." he told it.

As he left the house, a slip of paper fell from the sheet. Stingy picked it up, curious as to what it was.

"Hmm.. what's this? Password for Zap-it? Well, I don't need a password, I won't be using it. I just want to HAVE it. Ahh it's mine, it's all mine!" he shouted in delight.

Stingy stuck the paper in his pocket and ran down the street, while a pair of periscope eyes popped up from behind a bush near Pixel's house.

"Another vanishing machine? Hmm, it IS an old lazy idea, but since I can't think up any others, this will have to do." Robbie decided, from his underground lair.

"I will use it to make Sporta-dork vanish once and for all! Ha-ha!" laughed Robbie, tapping his fingers together deviously.

"It's disguise time!" declared Robbie, and bounded over to his disguises, almost forgetting he had a cold.

"Now, I must find the perfect disguise to help me get the Zap-it from that pesky kid."

Robbie made his way past the glass cases containing all of his disguises.

"Too sappy, too happy, too crappie, too.." Robbie stopped in his tracks and did a double take. The last case was empty.

"What is going on around here? Where's my last disguise? I always keep my best ones in this case right here." grumbled Robbie as he searched the area, but couldn't find it anywhere.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to go as myself. I hope it's not to scary for the little fella!" chuckled Robbie, and turned around to leave, only to crash right into his periscope.

"I meant to do that!"

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile Sportacus was starting to get a little restless up in his airship.

"I hate to admit it, but at least with Robbie around I had something to do." he thought to himself.

"I can't play with the kids all the time, they've got to have fun on their own. There must be something I can do... but what?"

- - - - - - - - -

Stingy was about to reach his own house, when he was suddenly startled by Robbie Rotten popping out from behind a tree.

"Hello there Stinky." Robbie greeted him.

"It's STINGY!" he corrected.

"Whatever Stumpy. Listen, I know you don't like to trade, so I'm not even going to ask. I'm just going to take that troublesome machine off your hands." explained Robbie slyly.

"This is MINE, and you'd only use it to make Sportacus disappear again." accused Stingy, remembering the last time Robbie got ahold of the Zap-it.

"What's so bad about that? Everything would go back to how it was, lazy and perfect!" Robbie said delightedly.

"Forget it!" refused Stingy, turning around and sticking his nose in the air.

Suddenly Robbie reached out and grabbed an end of the machine, initiating a tug of war with Stingy.

"Hand it over kid!" Robbie ordered through gritted teeth.

"Noooo, I took this fair and square!" Stingy whined, and hung on for dear life.

"Well now I'm taking it from you fair and square!" grunted Robbie, pulling with all his might.

Suddenly it gave way, and Stingy was thrown backwards into some bushes. Robbie managed to keep his balance, and looked down into his hands, realizing he was holding the machine.

"Hahaha, got it!"

- - - - - - - - -

Up in the airship, Sportacus suddenly got a danger alert from the crystal in his chest plate.

"Someone's in trouble!" he shouted, trying to hold in his excitement at finally having something to do.

"I'm on my way!" he exclaimed as he leaped into the cockpit of his airship, and began to peddle.

- - - - - - - - -

"Why isn't it working?" Robbie complained, pressing the activation switch, with no results.

"I'm not telling." Stingy grumbled from the bushes.

Robbie fiddled with the controls and noticed a screen asking for a password.

"A password! So there's a password, is there?" inquired Robbie, pleased with himself. "What is it?"

"I told you, I'm not telling." Stingy insisted.

Robbie thought to himself, then seemed to have an idea.

"What if I told you that you could own all of Lazytown?" a conniving Robbie asked.

"The whole town? Mine?" Stingy asked in wonder.

"Yes, you would own the town, everything in it would be yours. All you would have to do is give me the password." stated Robbie, making his way closer to Stingy.

"I.. I don't know-.." Stingy stuttered, unsure what to do.

"You could call it Stinkytown." Robbie suggested.

Stingy shot him a glare.

"Er Stingytown.." Robbie corrected. "So the password, if you please."

Stingy slowly reached into his pocket, and grabbed the piece of paper. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't resist being able to own all of Lazytown. He just had to do it. He held out his hand with the paper to Robbie.

"Stingy, no!" shouted Pixel and the other kids, as they came running over. They had just noticed the machine missing and had come to look for it.

"Ha-ha, you snooze you lose, kiddies!" Robbie snickered, grabbing the paper out of Stingy's outstretched hand.

"Now what's the password?" muttered Robbie as he unfolded the paper. "S.t.e.p.h.a.n.i.e? What kind of password is that? Not very creative if you ask me!"

"Pixel, what's he talking about?" Stephanie asked, a look of worry on her face.

Pixel just dropped to his knees, and covered his face with his hands. Everything was ruined.

Robbie began to input the password, just as Sportacus arrived, flipping off of his rope ladder in front of the children.

"Sportacus!" they yelled in relief.

Stephanie grabbed his arm, and held tightly.

"Sportacus do something!" she pleaded. "Robbies' got Pixel's new Zap-it gun! If he shoots anyone, they'll be gone for good!"

"Don't worry Stephanie, everything will be fine. Robbie, just hand it over." Sportacus calmly told Robbie.

"Ha-ha I don't think so. In a matter of moments, there will be no more games, no more fun and most of all, no more YOU in Lazytown!" declared Robbie with glee.

Sportacus slowly took a step forward.

"Robbie listen, put the machine down and think about what you're doing."

Robbie pressed the switch, firing a shot, which just barely missed Sportacus.

"Oh I've thought about it, and I like it!" he snarled.

"Robbie stop it!" Stephanie yelled. "I thought you were better than this!"

"You're right, I've been way to much of a softy lately haven't I? Well no more Mr. Nice guy. I've got the machine, and I have the power to make any one of you disappear forever!" bellowed a power stricken Robbie as he pointed the gun at Sportacus.

He fired again, forcing Sportacus to dive out of the way.

"Stay still, will you?" barked Robbie in frustration.

Sportacus wasn't going to stay still. Robbie knew that. The man never stopped moving! He had to try something else.

Robbie suddenly got a brilliant idea. He aimed the machine right at Stephanie, and fired.

"Stephanie! No!" Sportacus yelled as he dove in front of her, taking the shot.

Suddenly he was surrounded by a bright purple light, and everything became blurry. Then in an instant he was gone.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie cried.


	2. Lost in Forever

Sportacus wasn't sure what had happened, or how long he had been unconscious, but he seemed to be waking up.

"Where am I?" he asked, to no one in particular. He couldn't see properly yet, but things were slowly starting to become clear again.

"Stephanie? Are you alright?" he shouted, suddenly remembering trying to save her from the Zap-it gun.

There was no reply. Sportacus tried moving, but there was nothing solid to grab or put his feet onto. He just felt like he was floating, and he felt very alone.

"Something isn't right, that's for sure." he told himself.

Finally his eyes were working again, but there was nothing to see. He was just floating there in what seemed to be a spacious void of nothingness.

"Of course! I was hit by the Zap-it gun. This is where things must go when they disappear." Sportacus concluded, as some car keys and a tennis racket went sailing by.

"Well, now that I know where I am, I've got to find a way out."

Sportacus began swimming through the emptiness, hoping to find an exit of some sort.

Several minutes went by with no progress. Sportacus couldn't tell if he had even moved at all from the place he had started. It all looked the same. After another hour elapsed, he stopped trying to get anywhere.

"Whew, I need a rest. I may not be getting anywhere but this is great exercise!" Sportacus said, retaining his positive attitude even in this seemingly hopeless situation.

Suddenly he felt strange. The blurry vision he had earlier started to return, as well as the purple light that surrounded him back in Lazytown. Before he knew it he was pulled from the void, dropping onto what felt like solid rock.

"Now where am I?" he asked himself again.

"Sportacus! You're back!" exclaimed an excited voice above him.

Sportacus shook his head, regaining his vision quicker this time. He could see he was in a cave of some sort, with an extremely obese figure standing in front of him.

"Sportacus, it's me! Ziggy! Don't you recognize me?" the figure worriedly asked.

"Ziggy? No, Ziggy's only little, you can't be-.." stated Sportacus as he rolled over and sat up.

"It is me Sportacus." the fat young man insisted. "A lot of time has gone by, but just a few weeks ago Pixel made a reverse Zap-it gun, that brings things back instead and he tried to use it, but it didn't work, so he just gave it to me. Then today I was exploring this cave just now, and accidentally dropped it and it just started to work all of a sudden, so I pressed the switch and here you are!"

Ziggy gasped desperately for air when he had finally finished his rambling.

Sportacus could see properly again and was surprised to find that this was definitely Ziggy. He talked the same amount, and he was wearing the exact same clothes, only bigger, since he himself was much much bigger.

"Tell me Ziggy, how long was I in there?" asked Sportacus, dreading the answer.

"Ten years, and Sportacus... it's been awful! Without you around, Robbie turned everything lazy, and won't let us leave. We have to do what he asks or he sends his robots after us!" cried Ziggy.

Sportacus climbed to his feet, and couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Ziggy, are you sure? It only feels like I've been gone for a few hours."

He hadn't aged a day, but clearly much more time had gone by in Lazytown.

"I'm positive Sportacus!" Ziggy answered with certainty. "Stingy is Robbie's partner, and they've got Pixel making machines for them, and Stephanie and the Mayor are held prisoner, and I don't know where Trixie is. You have to help!" he pleaded.

"Okay, Ziggy calm down. Everything will be alright." Sportacus assured him, and put his arm on Ziggy's shoulder.

"We should go see Pixel." Ziggy suggested excitedly. "He'll know what to do."

"Okay Ziggy, lead the way." said Sportacus, still unsure if things were really as bad as Ziggy was saying.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, at the very top room of the massive tower on the edge of town...

"Ahh what a wonderful day. Nice and LAZY, like always!" Robbie said, sliding into the seat of his giant orange throne.

"With my robot-making machine, I have robots to do whatever I want. No one can leave, and no one can be active. This is the life. The only thing that could bring me down is if that Sporta-cat came back. But that's impossible, why would I even think of something crazy like that?" Robbie chuckled.

"Skunky, where are you?" he yelled suddenly.

"I'm here, I'm here King Robbie!" said an out of breath Stingy, as he entered the throne room.

"and um-.. it's Stingy." he corrected.

"Sure. Anyways, how are you today?" Robbie asked.

"Well, uh-.." Stingy started to say.

"Ah really, that's great." an uninterested Robbie replied. "I have some things I need you to do for me. First, check to make sure all of my Robbie Robots, that are surrounding the town are in perfect working order. We can't have anyone escaping. Then I need you to go check on that computer-loser Pixel. He should be done building the Jet-boots I asked for."

"Ok, I've got it, anything else sir?" Stingy asked as he finished writing down his tasks for the day.

Robbie continued, ignoring the question. "I mean, why walk when you don't have to? Eventually no one will have to walk ever again when I get those babies mass produced."

"Um, is there anything else?" Stingy asked again.

"Hmm-.. let's see-.. " Robbie said, thinking. "I think that's all for today, you may leave."

Stingy bowed, and turned to leave the room.

"Ah right I almost forgot, there's one more thing." Robbie added slyly. "I'm going to need you to break up with that girlfriend of yours. Oh what's her name.. Trixie?"

"B-but why?" Stingy asked, visibly upset.

"I'm afraid all of this lovey dovey stuff is getting in the way of both of your duties to me, King Robbie of Rottentown. Plus it's just way to icky, I don't like it." Robbie explained, making a face.

"Yes sir." a disappointed Stingy replied, and headed towards the exit.

- - - - - - - - -

Sportacus and Ziggy had made their way back into town, and were just about to reach Pixel's house. Sportacus couldn't believe what had become of Lazytown. The once beautiful blue skies were now a purple and gray mess, and many of the trees had wilted.

"How could Robbie have done this?" he wondered in horror. "Sure he was a little bit of a grouch, but I didn't think he was capable of something like this."

"Pixel!" Ziggy yelled as they reached the house.

Sportacus tried to look inside, but all the windows were sealed shut.

"Maybe he's out?" Sportacus suggested.

"No, he never goes out. His house is always like this." Ziggy told him. "Pixel open up!"

Finally the door swished open and a computerized voice told them to enter.

They made their way down a dark stairway to the basement. Sportacus could only see a bit of light at the very bottom.

"Pixel, I've got a surprise for you!" Ziggy shouted suddenly, startling Sportacus.

Finally they reached the bottom, and there was Pixel, building something, surrounded by hundreds of inventions. He had weeks worth of stubble, and his hair was down past his shoulders.

"Pixel, look!" Ziggy told him enthusiastically.

Pixel slowly pulled off his goggles, looking extremely tired. However, his eyes opened slightly wider when he saw the blue figure standing beside Ziggy.

"Oh hey Sportacus.." Pixel said in a dull uninterested tone.

"I brought him back, just like I said I would. Now we can stop Robbie!" Ziggy said excitedly.

"Have fun." Pixel grumbled, returning to his work.

"Pixel, we need your help." Sportacus tried to tell him.

"What would you need me for?" Pixel asked. "I'm the whole reason this happened. I was so stupid to build another Zap-it gun. I should have known Robbie would get his hands on it."

"It's alright Pixel, you didn't mean for this to happen." Sportacus assured him.

"No, but it did, alright?" Pixel yelled, almost bursting into tears. "After he made you vanish, Robbie threatened us all, saying he'd do the same to us if we didn't do what he wanted. Then he made me build him a machine that built robots, and I did it. He took Stephanie away, and I didn't do anything about it. It's all my fault, and nothing I can do will change that!"

"Pixel, together we can stop him. If you feel responsible for what happened, then do something about it." suggested Sportacus kindly. "You know what Stephanie would say?"

"What?" asked Pixel, wiping away a tear.

"There's always a way." Sportacus told him, putting a hand on Pixel's shoulder. "If you believe in yourself, you can do anything!"

Pixel thought for a moment, then stood up, nodding.

"She's in the prison on the other side of town. If we take the back way around, we can make it without being spotted by any robots!" he enthusiastically explained, motivated for the first time in years.

"Now you're talking!" grinned Sportacus.

- - - - - - - - -

Back in the tower, Robbie was sitting down to enjoy a delicious dinner.

"Yummy, what's for dinner this evening?" Robbie asked a robot wearing a chef's hat. In a slow mechanical voice, it started to give him a list.

"YOUR APPETIZER IS.. CAKE. YOUR MAIN COURSE IS.. CAKE, AND YOUR DESERT..."

"Cake? Please oh please be cake!" Robbie pleaded.

"CAKE." it finished saying.

Robbie started to raise his arms up in delight, but the giant doors to his room burst open, interrupting him.

"Sir Robbie, we've got a Sportacus sighting." a figure in the doorway told him.

"A WHAT!" Robbie suddenly got extremely serious, and walked towards the doorway.

"If this is some kind of sick joke..." Robbie warned. "I'll string you up by your pigtails Trixie."

"I saw him sir, with Ziggy. They were heading to Pixel's house." Trixie explained.

"We'll see about THIS!" Robbie snarled, as he headed towards his periscope.

"Sportacus back, HAH, no way, not a..." Robbie started to say, but was lost for words at what he saw through the lens. He rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Sure enough it was Sportacus, alive and well.

"No! This can't be! How did he come back? I zapped him away for good!" Robbie yelled furiously.

After stomping around angrily for several minutes, he finally stopped.

"I don't care how he got back, but I want him gone, forever this time!" Robbie ordered.

Trixie nodded.

- - - - - - - - -

Across town, three silhouettes crept through the shadows.

"This way." Pixel motioned. He seemed to know the patrol routes of all of the robots.

"He's been planning on doing this for years." Ziggy told Sportacus.

They stopped at the edge of a house.

"There it is." Pixel pointed, to the prison on the other side of the street.

It looked like a small fort, and was surrounded by robots.

"Those robots look just like Robbie!" Sportacus noted, somewhat disturbed.

"Yea he wanted me to make them in his likeness." explained Pixel.

"Okay Pixel, what should we do now?" Ziggy whispered, eager to get started.

"Hmm." Pixel thought. "If they see Sportacus, it'll be all over. Ziggy, if you can create a diversion and get those Robbie Robots out of the way, we might be able to completely avoid a confrontation with them."

"And we can sneak in and grab Stephanie before they get back." Sportacus added.

Ziggy agreed, and headed over. Pixel turned to Sportacus.

"Sportacus, you know how I said before that there was nothing I could do to change what happened? Well that's not completely true." he admitted.

"What do you mean Pixel?" Sportacus asked in confusion.

"Well, I don't know if it will work or not, but the thing I was working on when you guys showed up, is a time machine. I was hoping to go back and stop this whole thing from happening, but I don't have the final part I need. It's in the robot machine I made for Robbie, and I can't find another one. We need to get it. Then maybe, just maybe we can change the past!" a hopeful Pixel explained.

"Okay Pixel, but let's take things one step at a time. Right now, Stephanie needs our help." said Sportacus, staring intently at the prison.

"Right." Pixel agreed.

Ziggy had gone up close to the prison, and winked to Sportacus and Pixel.

"Get ready, cuz Sporta-candy is back in action. Ready to save the day, and stop the evil robots!" he exclaimed, raising his hand into the air.

Pixel and Sportacus shook their heads.

Ziggy began to do as much physical activity as his weight would allow. Starting with jumping jacks, he moved into pushups. The Robbie Robots soon noticed this lack of laziness, and rolled over to him, on the wheels they had for legs.

"STOP, STOP, ACTIVITY IS FORBIDDEN, YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW." they ordered.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Ziggy taunted, breaking into a slow, but effective run. The robots followed, leaving the prison completely unguarded.

"Good Ziggy!" praised Sportacus as quietly as he could.

"He got rid of them all, this is great!" Pixel exclaimed, as he and Sportacus left the side of the house, and snuck towards the prison.

But he had spoken too soon. A dozen or more robots spilled out from inside of the building, pointing their fingers at Sportacus and Pixel.

"Stay still!" Pixel warned Sportacus. "They've got laser-guns on their fingers."

"It's okay Pixel, I've got a plan." Sportacus said confidently.

Suddenly he leapt into the air, entering a flip, and then landing on the shoulders of two robots.

"STOP ACTIVITY, APPREHEND SPORTACUS!" the Robbie Robots exclaimed.

They shot their lasers at Sportacus but he was too quick, backflipping off of the robots he was standing on, just as the lasers meant for him knocked their heads off.

"Yeah!" Pixel shouted, pulling out a laser-gun of his own, and blasting off a few robot heads.

Sportacus pulled out his tennis rackets, as he ran to avoid some laser fire. He dove, rolled, and stood up beside two more robots. He quickly swung his rackets, taking them out of commission. He immediately leapt into the air, doing the splits to avoid the laser-fire coming his way.

Pixel took out a few more, then ran over to Sportacus, pressing some buttons on his arm-pad. A transparent green rectangle shot out acting like a force field, deflecting several laser blasts.

"Thanks Pixel!" said Sportacus, out of breath. "You go get the door open. I'll take care of the rest of these Robbie Robots".

Pixel nodded, and Sportacus bounded over the force field, landing backwards in front of one of the robots. He jumped up, doing his famous quick flip and a kick, knocking it's head right off and into another robot. Sportacus turned around in time to see them both fall over. The last two robots began to roll straight at him.

"Uh oh." uttered Sportacus, and began backing up.

As he stepped back, he hit something with his leg. He looked down to see a robot head lying there. Without hesitating, he hit the head into the air with his heel, and swung his racket, knocking it into one of the oncoming robots.

"One down, one more to go." professed Sportacus, as it spun out of control.

Sportacus got himself ready for his next move, but the Robbie Robot stopped and looked around. It realized that it was the only one left, and zoomed away as quickly as it had arrived.

Sportacus laughed as he returned the rackets to their place on his back.

"Door hacked and ready for opening!" Pixel announced, removing a device from the door's keypad.

Sportacus came over, grasped the door handles, and pulled the giant metal doors open with all of his might.

"Stephanie?" Pixel yelled desperately, running into the pitch black prison.

"Pixel, wait!" Sportacus called, but he was already gone in search of Stephanie.

Sportacus shrugged, and decided to go the other way.

It didn't take him long before he found a door with a bit of light shining from the cracks. He walked over to it, and knocked. There was no reply.

"Stephanie?" he whispered quietly, and tried to open the door. He expected it to be locked, but it opened easily.

As the door creaked open, he looked around the room. There was a barred up window allowing a little bit of light in, and he could see the outlines of someone in the shadows.

"Stephanie?" he asked again.

"Who is it?" a quiet voice asked.

"Stephanie, it's me, I'm here to rescue you." revealed Sportacus.

Suddenly a head emerged from the shadows, looking at him.

"Sportacus? Is that you?" wondered the voice, much livelier now.

As soon as he saw a touch of pink, he was sure it was her, and rushed over, yanking her chains off of the wall.

Before he could say another word, she leapt right at him, squeezing him with all her might.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie cried, tears streaming down her face. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Stephanie!" Sportacus said, unable to take his eyes from her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she had become.

"I.." he started to say, but couldn't finish before Stephanie started to kiss him.

He was in shock. This was the first time he had been kissed in this way, and by Stephanie of all people. He had always cared deeply for her when she was younger, and now-.. now she was beyond beautiful. He felt like his heart stopped, and couldn't bring himself to pull away from her. It was too wonderful.

"What the hell!" an incredibly angry voice yelled from the doorway.

Sportacus turned to look, and saw Pixel standing there watching. He looked like he was about to explode with rage.

"How could you Sportacus?" he screamed, suddenly going from anger to sadness.

Sportacus didn't know what to say. He was still in shock from the last few minutes.

"Pixel..." Stephanie said, breaking the silence.

"Shut up." he told her harshly. "I knew this was a bad idea. Go stop Robbie yourself, you backstabbing jerk. I'm outta here." Pixel glared at Sportacus in disgust, and stormed out into the darkness.

Sportacus lowered his head, but Stephanie pushed it back up.

"Sportacus.. thank you for rescuing me." she told him and hugged him again, more gently this time.

"Is anyone going to rescue me?" another voice sounded from the other side of the room.

"Mayor?" Sportacus asked.

"Uncle Milford and I were both put in here, because we refused to follow Robbie's orders." Stephanie explained.

"Yes yes, indeed, but can we please get these chains off of me?" the Mayor asked.

"Sure, no problem!" Sportacus said, as he and Stephanie headed over to free him.


	3. Reunited

After freeing the mayor, Sportacus and Stephanie helped him through the dark building to the exit. Sportacus had just finished explaining how he had returned.

"I see." said the Mayor. "That explains why you don't look any older."

Stephanie was so happy, she couldn't stop from smiling.

"Now that Sportacus is back, I think we should go over there and stop Robbie right now." she proclaimed, full of determination as they left the prison.

"Not so fast Pinky!" shouted a voice behind them.

Stephanie turned around quickly to see who it was. There stood Trixie, on town wall, with the Robbie Robot that had ran away earlier. It was pointing an accusing finger at Sportacus.

"Trixie?" Stephanie exclaimed. "It's great to see you!"

"I wish I could say the same-.." said Trixie with a unsettling smile. "..but I've got to stop you guys from going any further."

"Why?" Stephanie asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Come with us, and help us stop Robbie."

"Stop Robbie? You have to be kidding!" Trixie laughed. "I've worked hard to earn my ranking around here. I hate taking orders from anybody, and he may be a slime-ball, but he's the King of the town."

"But look at what he's done to Lazytown, Trixie." countered Stephanie, motioning around town with her hands. "It's a mess."

"I don't care. Stingy and I chose the right side, why don't you?" snapped Trixie. "Oh that's right, you could never betray your precious Sportacus."

Stephanie looked over at Sportacus, and smiled.

"You've been head over heels for him since the first day he showed up. When are you going to get over that stupid crush?" asked Trixie angrily.

"Trixie stop." Sportacus demanded. "You and Stephanie are friends. There's no need for this."

"I wasn't talking to you, Sportacus. I'll deal with you in a minute, when I'm through with your lover-girl here." snapped Trixie, pointing at Stephanie.

"Trixie, you're being horrible!" cried Stephanie.

"Thanks!" she laughed, leaping down from the stone wall she was on. "So who am I going to strike out first?" Trixie asked as she pulled out a baseball bat from the back of her shirt.

"Oh dear, we don't have enough players for a baseball game." the Mayor said, disappointedly.

"I don't think she's planning on playing any games, Mayor." Sportacus told him, as Trixie started swinging the bat threateningly at her side.

"I think I'll start with... her." Trixie decided, pointing at Stephanie.

"No Trixie, leave her alone!" demanded Sportacus.

"It's me you want!"

"Don't worry Sportacus, I can handle this." Stephanie assured him.

"Oh Stephanie, be careful." pleaded the Mayor.

Suddenly, the Robbie Robot rolled over to beside the Mayor, and pointed it's laser finger right at him.

"If you try to interfere Sportacus, the Mayor won't be around for the next election, I can tell you that much." Trixie taunted.

Sportacus sighed and shook his head. He couldn't believe that Trixie was acting so awful, and was pretty sure Robbie Rotten was to blame for it.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back at Robbie's tower, Robbie had just called for Stingy, who was making his way up the massive staircase for the third time today, and was about ready to collapse when he reached Robbie's room.

"Ah there you are." said Robbie, crossing his arms. "It's about time."

"What did you want Robbie?" asked Stingy in a slightly aggravated tone.

"Your ex-girlfriend is dealing with the Sporta-crew as we speak. However, there's a chance she'll mess it up. She's a good kid, but not too bright, y'know what I'm saying?" Robbie snickered.

Stingy clenched his fist.

"So if she fails-.." Robbie continued. "..I'm going to need you to take a team of my best Robbie Robots and guard the tower, got it Sticky?"

Stingy was at the end of his rope with Robbie, and couldn't hold it in any longer.

"IT'S STINGY! MY NAME IS STINGY!" he exploded. "AFTER TEN YEARS, YOU THINK YOU'D KNOW WHAT MY NAME IS!"

Robbie looked unimpressed.

"YOU TOLD ME I COULD OWN THE TOWN, BUT I DON'T! I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, I'M JUST YOUR STOOGE!" Stingy screamed.

"Are you finished?" Robbie asked impatiently.

Stingy nodded, out of breath.

"Good, now get going. Take the elevator this time, it's a lot quicker." Robbie told him.

- - - - - - - - -

Back outside of the prison, Trixie was swinging away at Stephanie, but wasn't having much luck. Stephanie was too agile, and had avoided every swipe with the bat.

"Stay still will ya?" Trixie growled, frustrated beyond belief.

Sportacus laughed, aggravating Trixie even more.

"Robot, shoot the Mayor!" she ordered. "I've had enough of this!"

Before it could even respond, Sportacus thrust an arm out, knocking the Robot's finger away with his tennis racket.

Seeing this, Trixie dove at Sportacus, with the bat raised above her head.

"Sportacus, look out" Stephanie yelled, but he had already noticed, and pulled out his other racket.

Trixie swung the bat down at him, colliding with his racket. He brought the other one around and used it to twist the bat from her hands.

"Darn it." she whined, as she fell backwards to the ground.

"Have you had enough Trixie?" Sportacus asked, holding his hand out to her.

She ignored him.

"Just forget her Sportacus." suggested Stephanie with a frown. "She's rotten to the core."

Sportacus was about to respond, but noticed something heading towards them.

"What the-..?" he wondered aloud.

Stephanie walked over, and held onto him.

"What is it?" she asked, squinting to see.

Suddenly Sportacus seemed to realize what it was. "We've got to get out of here now!" he exclaimed, grabbing Stephanie's hand.

He lead her and the Mayor behind the prison where they were hidden from view.

"What is going on Sportacus?" the Mayor nervously asked him.

Sportacus only replied by handing his telescope to the Mayor, who immediately looked through it.

"Hmm let's see here-.. it looks like Ziggy running, very fast-.." the Mayor observed.

"Good for him, it's been awhile since I've seen any activity in Lazytown."

"Mayor, look behind him!" Sportacus told him.

"Oh dear-.." was all the Mayor could say upon seeing the army of Robbie Robots that were chasing Ziggy.

"Where's Trixie?" Stephanie suddenly wondered, after seeing the oncoming danger in the telescope.

She looked around and noticed she was still back where they had all been standing, sulking on the ground.

Before Sportacus could stop her, she ran over to Trixie.

"Stephanie, come back!" the Mayor yelled to her.

"I have to help her." Stephanie grunted, trying to pull an unwilling Trixie.

"Leave me alone." Trixie demanded.

"Oh Sportacus, do something!" the Mayor pleaded.

"Okay, stay here Mayor." he ordered, as he hurriedly flipped over to Stephanie and Trixie. Ziggy and the robots were coming up fast.

"Sportacus, we have to move her, or she'll be run over." Stephanie desperately told him.

Sportacus nodded, and held out his hand.

"Trixie, take my hand, you've got to move." he ordered.

"Go away." she said, sulking.

Sportacus knew he couldn't talk her into coming, so he had to do something.

"Stephanie, get on my back, Trixie, you'd better hang on." he shouted.

"What are you..?" she started to ask, but Sportacus cut her off as he picked her up and held her under his left arm.

"Put me down!" Trixie demanded.

"Sportacus, help!" shouted Ziggy in desperation as he and the hundreds of robots approached uncomfortably close to him.

It seemed his request was almost immediately answered, when the Robbie Robots noticed Sportacus, and set their sights on him.

Ziggy dove behind the prison with the Mayor, while Sportacus took off running as fast as he could. He was carrying Stephanie and Trixie, and had about a hundred robots hot on his tail.

"What do I do now?" he asked himself.

- - - - - - - - -

"HAHA" shouted a delighted Robbie, stepping away from his periscope. "Trixie failed, but my loyal Robbie Robots prevailed!"

"Did you hear that?" he asked a nearby robot. "I'm a poet! I have so many talents, I don't even know about them all." he said, looking proud.

The robot looked unimpressed. Robbie frowned, and then stood up.

"Sporta-snail won't be able to run forever, and when he stops, it's goodbye and good riddance." Robbie snarled and slammed a fist on the table.

"Owww!" he moaned, holding his hand in pain.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, Sportacus and his passengers were just barely staying ahead of the robot army chasing after them.

"Faster Sportacus!" Stephanie urged.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Sportacus responded, running the fastest he had ever gone.

"Why did you even bother to help me?" Trixie asked Stephanie.

"You used to be my friend once Trixie.. I couldn't just leave you, no matter how mean you were being."

"Well don't expect a thank you." Trixie scoffed.

"Oh of course not, I wouldn't dream of it." said Stephanie sarcastically.

"Ziggy must have been really active to get this many Robbie Robots after him!" Sportacus thought aloud, as he zipped past the old city hall.

"Sportacus, they're gaining on us!" Stephanie informed him.

Sportacus took a quick look behind him and saw that the robots were only a few meters away. When he turned his head forward again, there were even more Robbie Robots standing ahead of him, blocking the town exit.

"Ahhh!" Stephanie screamed. "Sportacus, stop! We're going to crash!"

"Can't stop now!" Sportacus told her. "There's only one thing to do!"

"What are you doing!" Trixie asked in alarm, as Sportacus ran full force towards them.

Stephanie couldn't watch.

Suddenly, when they were much too close for comfort, Sportacus leapt into the air. He landed on a Robbie Robot, and proceeded to hop across their heads until he reached the end of them. He then jumped to the ground, and continued running.

"You're crazy!" Trixie shouted, her heart pounding like a drum.

Stephanie opened her eyes, and saw that they had made it.

"You did it!" she cried excitedly and gave Sportacus a quick kiss on the cheek.

The Robbie Robots weren't so lucky and crashed right into the ones blocking the way.

"Where are we going?" asked Trixie furiously.

"There." Sportacus said, pointing at the tower ahead of them. "That's where Robbie is right?"

"You're even crazier than I thought! You'll never get inside, let alone to Robbie!" Trixie complained.

"Trixie, put a sock in it!" shouted Stephanie from behind Sportacus.

"I don't see anyone around." observed Sportacus as he neared the tower.

"That's strange." said Stephanie suspiciously.

Sportacus skid to a halt, looking around for any sign of danger.

When there was none to be found, Sportacus let go of Trixie, and knelt down so Stephanie could hop off of his back.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, Robbie Robots stormed out from behind the tower.

"Uh oh." Sportacus muttered, backing up.

"How many of these things are there?" Stephanie wondered aloud.

Sportacus grabbed Stephanie, and turned around to run, but stopped when he saw the robots from earlier catching up with them. They joined the ones at the tower and formed a circle, sealing him in.

"There's nowhere to run now Sportacus!" Trixie taunted.

"What are we going to do?" asked Stephanie.

Sportacus tried to think of something-.. anything they could do, but was at a complete loss. They couldn't fight back, and they couldn't run. Surrender looked like the only option, until the robots raised their arms and pointed their glowing laser fingers right at them.

Sportacus held Stephanie tight. "I love you Stephanie." he told her, and closed his eyes, preparing to be hit by hundreds of laser blasts.

"STOP!" a voice suddenly shouted, echoing across the city.

All of the Robbie Robots backed up, lowered their arms and seemed to shut down.

"What's going on?" Sportacus wondered in surprise, as he opened his eyes.

"Stingy!" Trixie yelled, noticing him standing on the balcony above the front entrance.

"Tell the robots to attack, Stingy!" demanded Trixie.

"No!" Stingy argued. "I won't do it."

Sportacus and Stephanie looked at each other, unsure of what was going on.

"Why not?" Trixie asked.

Stingy took a breath. "I made a big mistake giving Robbie the password to that Zap-it gun-.. and everyone else has had to suffer for it. I wanted to own the town, I wanted it to be called Stingytown, but I never wanted it to be like this! I'm sorry Sportacus." apologized Stingy, not expecting to be forgiven.

Sportacus just nodded.

"I want to try and make up for what I've done." Stingy continued. "Robbie promised me a lot of things and never gave me them. He's been using me Sportacus, and I want him gone as much as you do. That's why I stopped all the robots, and that's why I'm letting you in here." he explained, throwing a key to Sportacus.

"Thank you Stingy." Stephanie said with a weak smile.

Stingy leapt off of the balcony, and walked to Trixie, who was at a loss for words.

"Trixie, I didn't want to break up with you, you know. Robbie forced me to." clarified Stingy, taking her hand.

"He did?" Trixie asked, a look of relief forming on her face.

Just then Ziggy and the Mayor arrived, squeezing their way through the lifeless Robbie Robots.

"Oh thank goodness you are alright!" the Mayor sighed, full of relief.

"What happened here, Sportacus?" Ziggy inquired.

"I'll tell you later, Ziggy. Right now we've got a town to save." Sportacus said, raising a finger into the air.

"Yeah!" cheered Ziggy and Stephanie together.

"Mayor, I think it would be best if you head back to city hall. You'll be safest there." Sportacus suggested.

"I was about to say that myself actually." said the Mayor. "Stephanie please be careful."

"I will, Uncle." she promised as she hugged him.

Sportacus turned to Stingy and Trixie, who had just finished hugging as well.

"Thank you Stingy, for your help."

Stingy nodded, and watched as Sportacus, Stephanie and Ziggy headed into the Tower.

"Let's get out of here Trixie. I think we outwore our welcome a long time ago." announced Stingy, and took one last look at the town. They then got up and walked away, leaving Lazytown forever.

- - - - - - - - -

"Welcome to my Tower of Terror, Sportacus" greeted a voice over the intercom, as Sportacus, Stephanie and Ziggy stood at the bottom floor of the tower.

"Robbie! Where are you?" hollered Sportacus.

"I'm at the top of the tower, but you'll never make it." Robbie taunted.

"Oh yes we will, and you're going to wish you never messed with Lazytown!" Stephanie shouted back, walking angrily towards the stairs in front of them.

Suddenly an arrow flew across the room, just barely missing her face.

"You might want to watch where you step around here. We wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face now... would we? Hahaha!" Robbie laughed.

"Stephanie, are you alright?" Sportacus asked, running to her.

Stephanie nodded. "Sportacus, do you really love me?" she inquired out of nowhere.

Sportacus was taken off guard, and looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with her. He remembered he had blurted it out earlier.

"Please tell me-.." she begged, pulling his head up again.

"This is not the place for this Stephanie, we have to stop Robbie first." he told her, avoiding the question.

She nodded in understanding, though obviously disappointed that her question wasn't answered.

"What are we waiting for guys?" Ziggy wondered as he ran up to them. "Let's go get him!"

Stephanie and Sportacus agreed, and the three of them carefully made their way up a small flight of stairs. They arrived at one very large door.

"Well, I guess we'd better open it." Sportacus decided, after they had stared at it for several minutes.

He quickly pulled it open, and jumped back expecting something to come flying at him.

"It looks safe enough." he told the others, and started to walk through the open door.

After a few steps, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him give way. He dropped into what appeared to be a trap door, and disappeared into the darkness below.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie screamed, and ran to where he had fallen.

She knelt down, looking for the opening, but couldn't find it. It was as though it had sealed back up.

"Where do you think he went?" Ziggy asked her, as he helped her back up.

"I don't know Ziggy-.." she said. "..but we have to find him."

"Knowing Sportacus, he's probably on his way out of there right now." Ziggy confidently told her.

Stephanie cracked a smile. "Yeah you're probably right." she agreed, and started to walk forward. "He'll probably find us first."

They reached another staircase, and followed it up for a short time, until it stopped at a long hallway with a door on each side.

"Just great, there's two ways to go." Ziggy griped.

"Well that works out well, there's two of us." Stephanie pointed out.

"You want to split up!" shrieked Ziggy, clearly dismayed.

"Ziggy, we can cover more of the tower this way, plus there's a better chance that one of us will run into Sportacus." she pointed out.

"Okay, I just hope I don't run into anything, like.. a monster!" Ziggy whispered timidly.

Stephanie laughed. "Ziggy, just watch out for traps, and you'll be fine." she assured him.

Ziggy swallowed hard, and entered the door nearest to him.

Stephanie was still smiling as she opened her door. "Still the same old Ziggy."

She found herself in a small room with only a ladder leading upwards.

"I guess I'd better start climbing!" she decided, and reached for the first bar.

- - - - - - - - -

Down at the bottom of the tower, Sportacus removed his hat and gave it a squeeze, expelling all of the water it had absorbed. He had fallen into an underground tunnel system filled with raging water rapids. Fortunately among all of his other talents, Sportacus was an excellent swimmer, and had managed to reach dry ground quite effortlessly.

"Robbie has got to do better than this if he wants to stop me."

He slid his hat back on and began to walk in the dimly lit corridor, water splashing around inside of his boots.

"Now how do I get out of here?" he asked himself, as he noticed that the tunnel split into several different directions.

Sportacus stood there for a moment trying to decide, when he noticed a shimmer of light coming from the left tunnel.

"I guess that's the way I'm going." Sportacus decided, and headed towards the light.


	4. Seeing Double

As he neared the light source, Sportacus began to get the feeling that he should turn around and go to the other way. Something was giving off very negative emotions.

After a few more steps, the light source came into view. It was a full length mirror.

Sportacus laughed.

"What a strange place for a mirror." he thought as he approached it.

Sportacus nodded in approval as he stood before it. This was the first time he had seen himself since he had arrived in the future.

"The mayor was right, I haven't aged a day!" he said, flexing his muscles.

When he had finished, he turned around to go in the other direction, but felt a surge of anger, sadness, and pain as soon as he looked away from the mirror.

Sportacus quickly turned back to face the mirror, but his reflection was gone.

"Where did it go?" he wondered, starting to get quite concerned.

Suddenly, another reflection began to form.

Sportacus looked intently into the mirror, and when the image became clear, he couldn't believe his eyes.

It was him, but different. Instead of his blue and white clothing, this image wore red and black. His mustache was jagged, and his blue eyes were deep red, almost as though they were on fire.

Sportacus knew that this could only turn out badly, so he began to back away. The mirror image however, stayed exactly where it was.

"Where do you think you're going?" it asked him.

"I think I took a wrong turn, sorry about that." Sportacus quickly told it.

"No no, I think you're exactly where you should be." it grinned as it stepped out of the mirror, cracking it's knuckles.

"What are you, some kind of copy of me?" Sportacus asked, still backing up.

"Something like that." it laughed, and started walking towards him. "I'm a completely opposite version of you, and since you exist to help people, I only exist to destroy them!"

The evil double jumped forward, sailed through the air, and crashed right into Sportacus, knocking him into a solid brick wall.

Sportacus pulled himself from the ground, arching his back in pain.

His evil double again jumped towards him, but Sportacus flipped to the side, avoiding it and landing into the water below.

"This is too easy!" the double exclaimed, jumping in after him.

Sportacus was still under the raging water, and through the murky liquid, could see his double coming after him.

"This is crazy!" Sportacus thought. "I can't fight myself."

The evil Sportacus swam at him relentlessly, fighting the pull of the rapids.

"I've got to get some air!" thought Sportacus, and began to swim upwards.

Unfortunately the double grabbed his leg, preventing him from doing so.

Sportacus kicked at it's hand, but the density of the water made it ineffective.

"Must.. get out of here.. or I'll drown." he told himself, and reached for the crystal on his chest.

With the push of a button, the crystal ejected and began to shake in the water. In an instant it blew apart, emitting an incredible blinding flash of light that lit up the entire tunnel.

The evil double let go of Sportacus and covered his eyes in pain, allowing Sportacus to swim to the surface and get back onto land.

He knelt down on the concrete ground, and gasped at the air trying to get his breath back.

Within seconds the evil double shot ten feet out of the water, and landed right beside Sportacus. Sportacus winced in pain as he was kicked in the side.

"That wasn't very nice of you!" the evil Sportacus growled angrily.

Sportacus started to stand up but his double grabbed hold of him and threw him back into the water.

"He's got to be twice as strong as me, I can't keep up." Sportacus said to himself, as he landed in the water once more.

The evil Sportacus dove in, and grabbed hold of Sportacus, pushing him down to the very bottom.

Sportacus struggled to get free, but this version of him was too strong. All of a sudden a strong force began to pull them both backwards. Both Sportacuses turned around and saw that an opening had appeared in the wall, draining the water out.

"I don't know where that goes to, but I don't plan on finding out!" Sportacus said as they were pulled closer and closer towards it.

The evil Sportacus was pulled off of Sportacus and they were both thrown around mercilessly as the water started to drain faster.

Sportacus could barely see where he was, but caught sight of an indent in the wall, and quickly grabbed the edge of of it. Unfortunately the evil Sportacus had grabbed onto his leg, and wasn't letting go. It clenched it's teeth in determination, and Sportacus could make out what looked like fangs.

This thing was definitely nothing like him, and he had to make sure it never got near any of his friends. With a couple of kicks, he loosened it's grip on his leg, and watched as it disappeared into the dark opening.

Sportacus continued to hold on for what felt like an eternity, until the water had finally drained away.

"I'm glad that's over." Sportacus gasped as he climbed out. "Now to find Stephanie and Ziggy."

- - - - - - - - -

Up above, Stephanie was still making her way up the ladder at a fast, steady pace.

Looking ahead, she couldn't make out a point where the ladder stopped. It seemed to go on forever.

"That's strange." she thought. "I wonder if this goes all the way to the top."

She climbed for a few more minutes, but stopped when she suddenly got a strange feeling.

"Something isn't right here." whispered Stephanie as she looked around.

She could barely make out the sound of electricity buzzing below her, and it seemed to be getting louder.

Stephanie looked down, and squinted her eyes, trying to see if there was anything there.

Suddenly the ladder shaft lit up bright red, as a laser grid appeared below her.

"Uh oh Stephanie, this is not good!" she told herself.

There was no going back now. The laser grid took up the entire width of the shaft, and it was moving upwards. She turned and began to climb for her life.

"Okay, I can do this! Just don't look down!"

- - - - - - - - -

At the same time across the hall, Ziggy was enjoying a pleasant elevator ride upwards.

"I wonder how Stephanie's doing." he managed to mumble through a mouth full of candy.

"This isn't so bad, I'm probably close to the top by now!"

As soon as he spoke, the elevator came to a screeching halt, knocking him over as it stopped.

Ziggy struggled to stand up, and picked up the candy he had dropped.

"Ouch." he muttered, rubbing his back. "They need to get this thing fixed." he said, as he walked toward the elevator door.

It flung open and Ziggy couldn't believe what he saw standing in the room before him. There stood the largest, most menacing looking robotic creature he had ever seen.

"D-d-dinosaur!" was all he could bring himself to say, as his heart raced with fear.

He struggled to find the switch to shut the door, but was too scared to locate the right button. The creature began walking towards him, shaking the ground with every step. Ziggy panicked, and pressed every button he could.

Just as it was about to reach the elevator, Ziggy hit the right button and finally got the door shut.

"Whew!" Ziggy sighed in relief, and slid slowly to the floor.

"If there's one thing that scares me even more than dinosaurs, its robot dinosaurs!" Ziggy yelled, his heart still racing.

Suddenly, there was a loud metal crash against the elevator door, knocking Ziggy forward.

"It's trying to get in!" Ziggy screamed, and scrambled to the far back wall of the elevator.

The crashing continued, as the robot dinosaur rammed its head into the door, making huge dents protruding on Ziggy's side.

"Don't eat me! I'm sorry, I won't eat another candy again! Please!" Ziggy begged.

The door finally burst open after the last attack, and the dinosaur peered inside. Ziggy could see that it was almost like a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton made of metal. It had the longest, sharpest teeth he had ever seen, and bright yellow eyes.

Ziggy swallowed hard, pulled together all of the courage he could, and ran out of the door, under it's legs.

"I can't stay in there, I've got to find a better place to hide!" Ziggy told himself as he ran across the large empty room followed closely by the dinosaur.

Suddenly a voice sounded over the speakers.

"Hahah!" laughed Robbie. "It looks like you've found my newest pet. I don't think you've been introduced. Ziggy, this is Bessie-o-saurus. Bessie, this is Ziggy, and he's very scared of dinosaurs." Robbie teased.

"Bessie?" Ziggy asked, looking back at the dinosaur.

He couldn't believe his eyes. There was Bessie Busybody, sitting in the head of the dinosaur robot, controlling it.

"Mrs. Busybody! Why are you trying to eat me?" Ziggy yelled to her.

"She can't hear you." Robbie told him. "She's under MY control. Unlike some of you pests, there are people who do the bidding of King Robbie."

Ziggy suddenly noticed a small crevice in the wall, and headed towards it.

"There's no escape, you're finished!" Robbie taunted over the speaker.

Ziggy reached the wall and tried to get into the crevice, but his mass was getting in the way.

"Oh no! I knew I ate too much candy!" he moaned, as he struggled to fit.

The Bessiosaur made a menacing roar, and prepared to take a lunge for Ziggy.

He took a deep breath and sucked in his stomach as much as he could, just allowing him enough room to squeeze in. The Bessiosaur came down, just missing Ziggy, and hitting it's face on the wall.

"Lucky..." Robbie muttered.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, Stephanie was quickly losing ground to the laser field below her.

"This has got to be the longest ladder I've ever seen!" she groaned, climbing up a few more rungs.

"I'm not going to make it to the top, and this laser is coming up to fast... I've got to do something now!" she decided.

Stephanie looked around frantically for some means of escape, but couldn't see a thing. However, she felt a gust of air hit her face. She stopped, and looked for where it was coming from. There was a vent of some type, and she could see small holes for air to get through.

"This is it, my only chance to get out." Stephanie said, bringing her leg back and thrusting her foot at the vent.

It dented slightly, but not as much as she had hoped.

"Come on Stephanie!" she urged herself, as she looked down at the laser that was getting too close for comfort.

She kicked it again, making little progress.

Stephanie began to feel extremely hot, due to the advancing laser, and knew she had very little time left.

Suddenly she lost it under the pressure, and began kicking the vent frantically.

"Come on... you.. stupid.. vent! OPEN!" she growled through clenched teeth.

She wound up for one last thrust as the laser was about to hit her. She smashed the vent open, and leaped inside, as the laser grid passed, just missing her by mere centimeters.

Stephanie sat there breathing rapidly, her heart racing.

She cracked a smile of relief, and wiped the drops of sweat off of her forehead.

"There's no way I'm going back in there again! I'll just have to take my chances with these ventilation shafts." she decided, as she began to crawl through them.

- - - - - - - - -

Not too far away, Ziggy was still hiding out of reach of the Bessiosaur.

"Mrs. Busybody, snap out of it!" Ziggy urged her.

Bessie just stared into space, and activated the controls to try and reach Ziggy again.

"You can't hide forever." Robbie told him. "You'll have to come out to eat."

"Eat?" Ziggy repeated, licking his lips. "I am pretty hungry-."

"Why don't you just come on out of there?" Robbie suggested. "We can have a nice meal and discuss your new job."

"What are you talking about?" Ziggy asked.

"Well you see, my last two employees decided to run off on me, so I'm a little short-staffed."

"I'm not working for you Robbie! We're going to stop you!" Ziggy warned him.

"We? Last I saw, Sporta-wuss vanished into the floor, and the pink girl was about to get zapped by my trusty laser trap. You're all alone now." Robbie informed him.

"Stephanie?" Ziggy said, deeply concerned.

"Yea that's right. It's too bad really, she was quite the looker." Robbie snickered.

Ziggy felt his eyes begin to fill with water, and his lips started to tremble.

Robbie just laughed.

Ziggy sat there stuffed between the walls, tears streaming down his face. For the first time, all of the hope he had was gone.

However, in between Robbie's laughing and the roaring of Bessiosaur, Ziggy suddenly heard a sound. He peered out of the crevice he was in and saw a floor grating begin to move. As soon as he saw the bright pink hair, his spirits lifted. Stephanie wasn't zapped by a laser, she was alive! He should have known better than to believe Robbie.

Although before Ziggy could realize, the Bessiosaur had noticed Stephanie as well, and was on it's way over to her.

Stephanie had stood up and dusted herself off, when she noticed a large shadow looming over her. She slowly lifted her head up and looked into the air, noticing Bessie.

"Stephanie, look out!" she heard Ziggy yell from somewhere in the room, but it was too late. The Bessiosaur grabbed Stephanie's shirt with its teeth and lifted her into the air.

"No!" Ziggy screamed as he came out from his hiding space, and ran towards them, instantly forgetting his fear. "Put her down!"

The Bessiosaur swung it's strong metal tail, knocking Ziggy away. He slid across the floor and was stopped by the wall.

"Well it looks like you made it out of my trap." grumbled Robbie in disappointment. "What a waste, since you just walked right into another one! Hahaha!"

Stephanie closed her eyes as the Bessiosaur flung its head to the side, letting go of her shirt. She sailed across the room, and knew she was going to hit the floor hard... but it didn't happen. She hit something much softer, and was confused until she opened her eyes.

"Sportacus!" she screamed in delight, after realizing who had just caught her.

He smiled, and put her down.

"Oh great." Robbie moaned over the speaker.

"Go help Ziggy. I'll stop Bessie." Sportacus told Stephanie.

She nodded and rushed over to him.

Sportacus ran around the other side of the Bessiosaur, distracting it from Stephanie and Ziggy.

It roared in anger, and headed after him, lunging at him with it's mouth, but he leapt out of the way, causing it to crash into the wall.

The Bessiosaur pulled itself back up, and took a swing at Sportacus with it's tail. It missed again as Sportacus backflipped out of the way.

It stomped over to him furious with rage, but Sportacus didn't run this time. He stood his ground with his hands on his hips.

With the loudest roar yet, Bessiosaur lunged at Sportacus with all of it's might.

Sportacus bounded into the air, and seemed to defy all laws of gravity as he landed right on it's head.

It tried to shake him free, but he had gotten a firm enough grip to avoid being thrown off.

He pulled himself across its giant metal head to where Bessie was sitting.

"Bessie, stop this robot!" Sportacus yelled to her through the glass.

She didn't respond, and Sportacus realized that she must have been hypnotized. She shook its' head again, as Sportacus held on for his life. He made a fist, and with all of his might, punched the glass that she was encased in. It shattered into a million pieces, and he pulled himself inside.

"Bessie, snap out of it!" Sportacus ordered, shaking her frantically. Still nothing.

"Sportacus! Get out of my robot!" Robbie demanded.

Sportacus ignored him, and kicked the cover off of the control panels that Bessie was using. Without hesitating he reached in and grabbed a handful of wire, yanking them with all of his might.

The wires tore apart, sending electricity everywhere, as the robot dinosaur crashed to the ground.

Stephanie and Ziggy ran over to the smoking heap of metal.

"Sportacus! Are you alright?" Stephanie yelled to him.

There was no answer.

"Mrs. Busybody?" Ziggy asked, as they began to rummage through the metal.

Stephanie pulled a metal arm out of the way, and spotted a hint of blue.

"Ziggy, come here, help me! Hurry!" Stephanie begged him.

They reached in and grabbed hold of him, pulling with all of their might. When they had him clear of the wreckage, Stephanie noticed that he didn't seem to be breathing.

"Well well, looks like Sporta-moron took care of himself for me!" laughed Robbie. "What a shame. If you still want to come after me, I'll be waiting on top floor." he informed them, and turned off the speaker.

"Sportacus, no!" Stephanie cried.

She held his head up on her lap and hugged him. "Sportacus please be alive." she begged, and softly kissed him on the lips.

The warmth of her lips against his, caused Sportacus to suddenly start breathing again.

"Stephanie look, you did it! He's alive!" Ziggy said, pointing excitedly to him.

Sportacus slowly sat up and shook his head.

"What happened?" he asked in a daze.

"You stopped the robot, but you must have gotten electrocuted!" Ziggy told him.

"Bessie! Is she alright?" Sportacus asked, suddenly remembering what had happened.

"I'm fine, thank you very much." an irritated voice stated from under the wreckage.

"Oops!" said Stephanie, realizing she had forgotten about her.

Ziggy ran over and helped Mrs. Busybody climb out of the pile.

"I'm just a little dizzy." Bessie told them. "What am I doing here?"

"Robbie had you controlling his robot dinosaur!" Ziggy explained.

"I certainly don't remember agreeing to that!" Bessie declared angrily. "In fact, I don't remember a whole lot of anything come to think of it."

"Then you're lucky." Ziggy sighed. "I wish I didn't have any memory of all of this."

Stephanie nodded in agreement, and then turned to Sportacus.

"Sportacus, how did you get out of that trap you fell into?" she asked him, still holding him in her lap.

"Let's just say with a lot of luck." Sportacus smiled.

"Aw Sportacus, you're not even going to tell us?" Ziggy moaned. "I bet it's really exciting and full of adventure!"

"I'll tell you all about it later, but there's something much more important to do right now." Sportacus said, as he looked towards the stairway across the room.

"Is Robbie up those stairs?" Stephanie asked uneasily.

Sportacus nodded as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Ziggy, Stephanie, get Bessie out of here. I'm going to go deal with him right now." Sportacus instructed, and headed towards the stairs.

"No way, I'm coming with you!" stated Stephanie, as she stood up.

"I don't want you getting hurt Stephanie." indicated Sportacus. "Please, just stay here."

Stephanie frowned as he headed up the stairs without her.

"What are you doing dear? Bessie asked her. "Go with him!"

"But he said-." countered Stephanie.

"Who cares what he said. You want to be with him, so go be with him!" Bessie told her sternly.

"Yeah, go on Stephanie!" Ziggy encouraged.

"You're right! Thanks guys." Stephanie said as she ran up the stairs after him.

"Sportacus, wait!" she yelled as she neared him.

"Stephanie what are you doing?" Sportacus asked her, crossing his arms in disapproval.

"I know you don't want me to get hurt, but I can't let you go alone. I don't care if it's dangerous, I want to be with you. I love you." she cried, tears streaming down her face.

Sportacus smiled. "I guess I can't argue with that." he admitted, and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Alright, let's go."

"Wait" Stephanie said, reaching for his arm. "Will you tell me now? Did you mean it when you said you loved me?"

"I do love you Stephanie.." he began to say.

"Oh Sportacus!" she happily shouted, not letting him finish his sentence.

She hugged him tightly and then the two of them walked up the remaining stairs, arriving at a large doorway.

"Are you ready?" Sportacus asked, his hand reaching for the large doors.

Stephanie nodded and they both pushed the door open.


	5. The Showdown

"Alright Robbie, you're finished!" Stephanie shouted as they entered the throne room.

There was no reply. The room was completely empty.

"That's strange." said Sportacus suspiciously.

"Where is he?" Stephanie wondered.

"Robbie, we made it! Now come out. You're in a lot of trouble!" yelled Sportacus.

"Alright if you insist!" a voice replied from above them.

Robbie appeared out of thin air directly behind Sportacus, and pushed him with all of his might. Sportacus was caught off guard, and fell to the cold stone floor.

"See you next fall, Sporta-clutz." said Robbie, as he grabbed hold of Stephanie.

"Sportacus help!" she screamed, struggling.

Sportacus leapt to his feet and ran to her, but it was too late. Robbie grinned as he disappeared out of sight, taking Stephanie with him.

- - - - - - - - -

Sportacus climbed the final flight of stairs, and emerged on the roof of the tower. He could see the entire town from up here, and it was an absolute mess.

"Don't move Sportacus, or the girl gets it!" Robbie yelled to him from across the roof of the tower.

He had his arm around Stephanie holding a small device to her head.

Sportacus immediately stopped as Robbie had asked.

"Good choice." Robbie told him. "You might have noticed that this is a smaller version of the Zap-it. One shot and into nothingness she goes." he laughed, pointing to the device he was holding.

"So what do you want us to do Robbie?" Sportacus asked.

"Hmm, I hadn't thought this far ahead yet." Robbie admitted. "I didn't think you'd even make it up here."

"You're the worst villain ever Robbie!" Stephanie screamed from beside him.

"Stop talking little girl!" Robbie ordered, tightening his grip on the Zap-it gun. "It's been so long since anyone has tried to stop me, I've gotten rusty. I don't have to do anything anymore. Did you know I have a computer that makes up lazy ideas for me?"

Sportacus looked unimpressed.

"So now you show up, and try to ruin it all for me." Robbie continued, frowning. "I've done more physical activity TODAY, than I had in the whole 10 years you were gone!"

Sportacus looked around quickly, ignoring Robbie, and trying to figure out some way of getting Stephanie free.

"Listen Sportacus, I'm sure you're a great guy..-" Robbie continued to ramble. "..and if I wasn't so Rotten I might even like you, but I know that if I make you leave Rottentown, you'll eventually come back and try to stop me again."

"So you want him to stay?" Stephanie asked, confused.

Robbie pretended to look sad. "No no, I'm afraid I'm going to have to "dispose" of you both, if you know what I mean." he told them with a frown.

"Robbie, you've been sitting on your butt for 10 years! How are you going to be able to compete with Sportacus?" Stephanie asked him, doubtfully.

"Oh I'm not going to do it." Robbie grinned, as he pulled out a control pad from his back pocket. "This is!"

Robbie pressed some buttons, and looked out into the distance.

Sportacus turned around to see what Robbie was talking about.

"I believe it used to belong to you, Sportacus." Robbie taunted him.

Sportacus wasn't sure what he was talking about, but it didn't sound good, whatever it was.

Suddenly, a large blue airship came into view on the horizon, getting closer and closer.

It swooped down below the tower and then slowly raised itself to be on level with the rooftop.

Sportacus couldn't believe it. His former home was now covered in laser guns, and missile launchers.

"What do you think?" Robbie asked proudly. "It's my newest toy."

Sportacus clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. This wasn't just his home, it was almost like a friend, and Robbie had defiled it and turned it into some sort of floating weapon.

"How could you?" Sportacus growled, trying hard not to risk it all and charge at Robbie.

"With this, I can travel everywhere, and promote laziness the world over!" Robbie cooed, moving his hand across the horizon.

"Sportacus, look out!" Stephanie warned, as a missile detached itself from the airship.

Sportacus turned around, and caught sight of it as it headed straight for him.

He dove forward, entered a roll and just barely dodged the resulting explosion.

Stephanie watched as part of the roof crumbled away.

"Robbie, are you insane? You're going to blow us all up!" she shouted.

"You've got a point there." agreed Robbie. "No more missiles."

Stephanie smiled in relief.

"I'll use the lasers instead!" Robbie barked, maniacally.

Sportacus looked up at the airship, as the laser guns began to choose their targets.

They all shot simultaneously, right at where Sportacus was standing.

With a side flip, he managed to evade the oncoming lasers as they sliced up a portion of the roof.

Robbie fiddled with the controls again, making the lasers begin to flail around randomly.

"One of these is bound to hit him!" Robbie snickered.

Sportacus quickly ducked to avoid a speeding laser beam that zipped by. Another one came flying past from the other way, forcing him to lay flat on the ground.

"Be careful Sportacus!" Stephanie begged him as he entered a handstand to avoid a stray beam.

Sportacus jumped using his hands, barely escaping yet another laser beam.

"I can't keep this up forever." Sportacus said to himself, and did a flip to get back onto his feet.

"Let's see how you handle this!" hollered Robbie, and pressing some more buttons.

The lasers suddenly sped up, and Sportacus began to lose his concentration. The lasers were forcing him closer and closer to the edge of the roof, as he tried his hardest to dodge them. However they were coming too quickly, and before long a laser struck Sportacus in the leg.

"No!" Stephanie screamed, as Sportacus lost his balance and fell from the roof.

"It's about time!" Robbie commented gleefully, and turned to Stephanie. "Your turn!"

- - - - - - - - -

Sportacus was already halfway down the tower, falling head first towards the ground.

He could hardly even make sense of what was happening. Everything around him was just a blur as he plunged straight down.

The ground was coming up fast and all Sportacus could do was cover his eyes and hope it would be over quickly.

Suddenly out of nowhere, it felt as though someone had jammed on the brakes. He had stopped mid fall, and was somehow being pulled back up the tower.

Sportacus curled his body upwards so he could see what on earth was going on.

It was Pixel, wearing a set of jet-boots, dragging Sportacus up by the leg.

"Pixel, thank you!" Sportacus said gratefully.

"Hey don't thank me, I'm just taking you back up so I can drop you again." muttered Pixel coldly. "I can't let Robbie take all the glory."

"What are you talking about Pixel?" Sportacus asked.

"You knew I loved Stephanie! You knew I loved her from the moment I saw her. She was all I had left to keep me going, and you went and took her from me." cried an emotional Pixel.

"Pixel, I'm sorry." Sportacus told him. "I can't control who she loves."

"Well I can." stated Pixel. "If you aren't around, she'll have to love me!".

"Not if she finds out that you dropped me." Sportacus pointed out. "Pixel, remember the time machine! It's not to late to go back and fix all of this. No one will have to have suffered. You're already full of guilt over what happened to Lazytown! Imagine how you'll feel after you kill someone!"

Pixel looked around for a moment. He knew he wasn't thinking clearly, and had been too wrapped up in his emotions to actually think about what he was doing.

He took a deep breath. "Alright Sportacus, lets do it. I really don't like you right now, but if we can make it so none of this happened, I'm in."

Sportacus nodded, and Pixel kicked the boots into high gear, blasting off towards the roof.

- - - - - - - - -

As they neared the top of the tower, Pixel let go of Sportacus, dropping him back onto the roof.

Suddenly much to his surprised, Sportacus was being hugged by Stephanie.

"You're alive!" she cried. "You've got to stop scaring me like that".

"Stephanie? What's going on?" he asked, completely confused at how she could be free.

"Don't worry Sportacus, I took care of everything." she assured him, pointing to the other side of the roof.

Sportacus turned to see what she was talking about, and was shocked to find Robbie Rotten sprawled out on the ground with his hands between his legs, groaning in pain.

Sportacus laughed out loud, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Good job Stephanie, you stopped Robbie all by yourself. Now lets get him before he tries anything else." said Sportacus.

"Too late Sporta-puss." Robbie managed to say through clenched teeth, and pulled out a small control pad.

At the press of a button, about two dozen Robbie Robots hovered onto the roof, surrounding Sportacus and Stephanie.

"Not this again." Sportacus thought to himself.

"I know, I know, I already used this trick once before, but I've gotta admit Sportacus, you've got me in a bit of a tough spot here." Robbie declared as he pulled himself up off of the ground. "My bag of tricks is almost empty, but I figure you can't possibly get out of this AGAIN."

Sportacus frowned, and searched the skies.

"Come on Pixel, we could really use your help right about now." he whispered.

"And now for the grand finale." Robbie announced, raising his hands to the air.

"With nowhere to run, Sporta-blush and his love will die tragically in each others arms." he announced dramatically, as he activated the airship controls, pointing every one of it's weapons directly at Sportacus and Stephanie.

"It took 10 years, Sportacus, but I finally did it." Robbie stated proudly. "I won."

"Think again, ROBBIE!" Pixel's voice echoed through the airship speakers.

"What?" Robbie shouted, as the airship laser-guns suddenly shifted from Sportacus and Stephanie, to the Robbie Robots.

One by one, the robots were blown to bits, as Robbie tried unsuccessfully to regain control of the airship.

Pixel had managed to get inside, and hack the airship controls.

"Alright Pixel!" Stephanie cried out in relief.

"No! How is he doing this!" Robbie roared in frustration.

Sportacus and Stephanie hurried to get out of the way of the laser blasts.

Pixel continued blasting away, and soon all that remained of the robots was a smoldering circle of scrap metal.

Robbie dropped to his knees, as Pixel directed the laser-guns to point right at him.

"How could this have happened? I was the King! I had everything! There's no way you could have beaten me!" he moaned.

"Just say the word Sportacus, and i'll make some Robbie roast." Pixel shouted through the speakers.

"No Pixel, we'd be just as bad as him." Sportacus said, holding up a hand.

Suddenly Robbie began to chuckle.

"Sportacus... you may be strong on the outside, but on the inside, you're just weak." Robbie told him. "You can't finish me off, and because of that, you'll be destroyed along with my tower."

"What are you talking about Robbie?" Stephanie quickly asked.

Before Robbie could answer, the tower began to shake violently beneath them.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Robbie laughed maniacally, as he laid himself down on the roof.

"Stephanie! Sportacus! Robbie just set the tower to collapse!" Pixel yelled from the airship speakers. "You've got to get off!"

"Let's go Sportacus, you heard Pixel, we have to leave!" Stephanie instructed, pulling on his arm.

"We can't just leave Robbie to die." said Sportacus as he looked over at him

"Believe me Sportacus, we can! Now lets move!" Stephanie ordered.

"I've got to save him, Stephanie. Just get on the ship, I'll be right behind you!" he told her with a smile.

"You better be!" she shouted, reluctantly let go of him, and hurried to the rope ladder that Pixel had lowered for them.

Sportacus ran to where Robbie was laying, and effortlessly picked him up.

"Lets go Robbie, I know you've done some terrible things, but I can't just leave you here."

Robbie turned to look at Sportacus, the fire gone from his eyes.

"Put me down Sportacus.. I've got nothing left. Just let me have my glory." he pleaded, in complete and utter defeat.

Sportacus thought for a moment, and then seemed to understand.

"Alright Robbie, have it your way." said Sportacus, putting him back down. "Once I go back and make sure that none of this happened, I promise i'll change you for the better. You have my word."

Robbie ignored him, and he rolled onto his side facing away from Sportacus.

"Sportacus, come on!" Stephanie and Pixel both yelled from the airship speaker.

With a quick nod, he leapt into action, running to the ladder as the ground beneath him started to crumble.

The stone floor began to give way, and without thinking, Sportacus bounded from the ground and flew through the air, as the entire roof collapsed under him.

The ladder was only inches away, and with the tips of his fingers he managed to grab it and hold on. With his other hand he made sure to get a good grip, as he looked below at the tower crumbling to the ground.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, Bessie, Ziggy and the Mayor were standing outside of city hall. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Sportacus' airship finally appeared overhead.

"They're back!" Ziggy shouted in joy.

"Oh I hope Stephanie is alright!" said the Mayor.

"I'm sure she's fine Milford." Bessie assured him as she held his hand.

"Oh my!" gulped the Mayor.

Once the airship had landed, Sportacus, Stephanie and Pixel emerged.

"Did you stop Robbie, Sportacus?" Ziggy asked excitedly.

"We sure did Ziggy. He won't be causing trouble here anymore." Sportacus assured him, as Stephanie rushed over to hug her Uncle.

"Oh Stephanie, I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried." he told her, almost shedding a tear.

"I told you I'd be careful Uncle, and you know I'm never in danger when Sportacus is around." she said, as they finished the hug.

Pixel lowered his head and began to walk away.

"What's the matter Pixel dear?" Bessie asked him with concern.

Pixel sighed. "The tower was destroyed, along with the part I needed to finish the time machine... We can't go back and change anything now."

"Oh are you talking about this thing?" inquired Ziggy suddenly, pulling out a mechanical object from his pocket.

Pixel's eyes grew wide. "That's it! That's the part! ZIGGY, how'd you manage to get hold of that?

"Oh it was nothing. I remembered you said you needed it, so I just picked it up on my way out." Ziggy explained with a laugh.

"Ziggy, you are amazing! Now I can finish the time machine!" Pixel shouted in delight.

"That's great, Pixel!" Sportacus said to him. "How long will it take to get finished?"

"Not very long, come to my house in about an hour and it'll be ready!" Pixel told them, and ran off to get started.

"Well, I guess if we're going to make it so that none of this happened, I'd better make the most of it." the Mayor declared, and grabbed hold of Bessie, kissing her passionately.

Stephanie couldn't believe it and just stood there with her mouth gaping. Sportacus put his arm around her and smiled. She smiled back, but suddenly she seemed to get terribly upset, and rushed off, her eyes full of tears.

"What's the matter with Stephanie, Sportacus?" Ziggy asked as he watched her rush into the forest.

"I think I know what it is. I'll be right back." Sportacus told him, as he headed off after her.

- - - - - - - - -

"Stephanie?" Sportacus shouted as he entered the forest.

There was no reply, but he could hear some sniffling coming from the old tree house.

In several seconds, he had made his way up the tree, and crawled through the window.

Stephanie was huddled in the corner, crying her eyes out.

"Stephanie, please don't cry." Sportacus said, as he sat next to her.

"You're leaving again aren't you?" she managed to ask through the tears.

"Well-.." he started to say.

Stephanie interrupted. "And if you manage to change everything, then none of this will have happened, and we won't be together anymore. Sportacus, I love you so much. I don't want to change anything."

"Stephanie-.. I love you too, but this isn't how things are supposed to be. Really I should be old enough to be your father, if I weren't trapped in that void." admitted Sportacus.

"But you WERE trapped Sportacus, and it lets us be together. Don't you want that?" she asked in depair.

"I do Stephanie, more than anything, but think about everyone else. You may be fine with the way things are, but what about Pixel?" Sportacus pointed out. "Everyday he lives with the guilt of what happened. Then there's Stingy and Trixie who we'll never see again, and what about the town? It's hopelessly ruined."

Stephanie just sighed and cried some more. Sportacus put his arm around her, and lifted her head up. He gave a smile then kissed her, and didn't stop until it was time to go to Pixels.

- - - - - - - - -

Back at Pixel's house, he was just putting the final touches on the time machine.

"Where the heck are they?" wondered Pixel. "We've got history to rewrite."

"I'm sure they'll be back anytime now" the Mayor assured him.

"What will happen to us when Sportacus changes everything, Pixel?" Ziggy asked.

"If all goes according to plan, this future will be eliminated completely. We'll have no memory of it at all, Ziggy." Pixel explained.

Just then they heard the door open, and Sportacus and Stephanie came down the stairs.

"Are you ready Sportacus?" Pixel asked, fiddling with the time machine.

Sportacus nodded.

"Alright, I've got it set to just the right time." Pixel told him, and pressed a switch, creating a swirling blue portal. "You'll be sent back to just before you got zapped by the gun. So just step into that portal there, and you're good to go."

Ziggy was the first to come up to Sportacus before he stepped through.

"You can do it Sportacus!" Ziggy encouraged, giving him a big bear hug.

"Make us proud, and stop that Robbie Rotten." The Mayor told him, as he shook Sportacus' hand.

"Be careful dear." Bessie said, and kissed him on the cheek.

Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Stephanie came over and hugged Sportacus one last time, and kissed him softly.

"Don't forget me." she whispered quietly into his ear.

"Never." he replied, and walked towards the portal.

"Good luck Sportacus." Pixel nodded to him.

Sportacus nodded back, and waved to everyone as he disappeared into the portal.


	6. Home at Last

Suddenly the desolate dull scenery of Rottentown was gone, and in it's place was Lazytown. As bright, colorful and cheery as it had always been.

"I made it!" said Sportacus, extremely relieved, as the time portal closed behind him.

He quickly surveyed the area, and in the distance he could see himself and the kids confronting Robbie Rotten. Without another thought, Sportacus ran towards them, leaping over several fences on the way.

"I've got to time this just right." Sportacus thought, as he hid behind a tree.

He watched as Robbie fired the Zap-it, forcing the past Sportacus to dive out of the way.

"Stay still, will you?" he barked in frustration, then aimed the machine right at Stephanie, and fired.

"Stephanie! No!" The past Sportacus yelled as he dove in front of her, taking the shot.

Suddenly he was surrounded by a bright purple light, and in an instant he was gone.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie cried.

"Ha-ha, I did it, I got rid of Sportacus! Now you all have to do what I tell you to do." said Robbie gleefully.

Sportacus suddenly jumped out from behind the tree, did a triple flip in the air, and kicked the Zap-it gun right out of Robbie's hands.

"No! That's impossible!" Robbie cried.

"Sportacus! You're alright!" The kids yelled in unison.

"Don't worry kids, everything will be alright!" Sportacus told them, as he reached out and caught the falling Zap-it gun.

"Sportacus, give me back that Zap-it!" Robbie demanded.

"Sorry Robbie, you've already had your fun." Sportacus said, and immediately snapped the Zap-it gun over his knee, throwing the two pieces over his shoulders.

"NO!" Robbie yelled, scrambling to get to the remains of the gun.

"Go home Robbie." Sportacus told him as he blocked his way.

Robbie snarled and made a face at Sportacus, then turned around, and stomped angrily out of sight.

Sportacus stood there with his hands on his hips, and breathed the fresh air. It was great to be back, and now everything was back to how it should be.

He was suddenly startled by Stephanie as she grabbed his arm.

"You did it Sportacus!" she said with a smile, and hugged him.

He swallowed hard, and felt a little strange as he looked down at her.

"What's wrong Sportacus?" she inquired.

"Oh it's nothing, Stephanie." he said, shaking off the awkwardness, and quickly changing the subject. "So kids, who wants to play some basketball?"

"Yeah!" they all yelled in excitement.

Sportacus gave Stephanie a smile, and they hurried to the basketball court.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, down in Robbie's lair, he was sitting down to eat an entire cake all for himself.

"That meddling Sportacus thinks he's so great! Why does he always have to foil my plans?" Robbie complained.

"I was so close this time... I could have ruled the whole town and-.." Robbie started to say, but his cold acted up and his nose began to tingle.

"AH AH AH CHOOOO!" he sneezed, and thrust his head directly into the cake on the table.

He shook with frustration as he sat up and spat a blob of icing from his mouth.

THE END


End file.
